3. The Starship Enterprise

Back in 1992, the authorities in Las Vegas were looking for a way to revitalize the Downtown area, which was struggling in the face of competition from the famous Strip. They decided to run a competition, inviting proposals for a major attraction to boost the area. There was one proviso: the attraction could not be a hotel or a casino, since the local hotels and casinos would be paying for it.

One of the entries came from Landmark Entertainment, the firm headed by Gary Goddard that would go on to produce Terminator 2 3-D for Universal's parks (along with a host of other classic attractions). They proposed a FULL-SCALE recreation of Star Trek's Starship Enterprise - which, Goddard felt, would become the "eighth wonder of the world". It would even be visible from airplanes overhead.

Goddard and his team studied the ship, even going so far as to consider how it would be stored in "dry dock" when it wasn't off exploring the universe. They designed a tour of the spacecraft, as well as a restaurant themed around a Star Fleet dining facility and a high-speed "travelator" to carry guests from deck to deck.

The cost of building the ship was estimated at some $150 million. Despite this astronomical expense, Goddard claims that the Las Vegas downtown redevelopment committee was ready to announce the Starship Enterprise as the winner of the competition.

However, Goddard still needed to persuade Paramount Studios, which controlled the rights to Star Trek, to come on board. In the end, this came down to a single presentation to Stanley Jaffe, the studio's chairman. As Goddard recalls that meeting, everyone present agreed that the idea was a winner - with one exception. Unfortunately, that exception was Jaffe, who said: "I don’t want to be the guy that approved this and then it’s a flop and sitting out there in Vegas forever."

Only one other proposal was under consideration for the downtown area, and it ended up being approved. That proposal was for the Fremont Experience, a show that is still in place today.